The 15 Best Full-Body Mobility Exercises. A 10-minute full-body joint mobility routine to do every day.

In this article, I present to you a joint mobility routine that will allow you to move all the joints of the body , in all the ranges of motion to which they have access, all for a duration of 10 to 15 minutes.

This routine is intended to be accessible to all levels of flexibility , all ages, all practitioners, even those who feel blocked and stiff all over. It applies even if you are a real wooden stick ^^.

15 mobility exercises in total , 3 for each joint or group of joints, simple to understand and perform, effective if you apply them daily and conscientiously.

My aim here is to be able to supplement all the articles on joint mobility already published on this Blog with a concrete, turnkey routine that can be applied immediately after reading.

I of course invite you to go through the theoretical learning phase beforehand, in particular with the articles on the difference between mobility and flexibility or the difference between mobility and prolonged static stretching , to fully understand what you will have to do here.

Very good reading my move.

Instructions and prerequisites to extract all the benefits of this mobility routine

Before you dive in and discover the exercises, let's take a few minutes to understand the goals of this routine and why it works.

The goal here is NOT to address all of your body- specific issues , injury history, physical activity history, and/or damage to your body.

This routine should be taken as a template, a general prototype before you can develop your own mobility routine specific to your body, your goals and your needs.

However, it remains extremely effective and relevant for a large majority of people with a sedentary lifestyle, who practice a sport for leisure 1 to 3 times a week or not, from professional athletes to the elderly.

Some important instructions to follow to perform the exercises correctly and without injury.

All exercises should be performed in a slow and controlled manner.

Since mobility is the work of the central nervous system , which wants to reconnect with the joints to move them with strength and control, it is necessary to focus on the good quality of execution of the movements.

I also invite you to take this moment to gather your thoughts, try to visualize each joint as you moved it, and maintain calm, nasal breathing throughout this routine to emphasize relaxation.

Please note, we do NOT hold any of the positions you are about to see statically. We are constantly MOVING.

There's no stopping to stretch, no jerks to force your body to reach a greater range of motion. This is counterproductive and you risk injuring your body.

We're going to start with a duration of 1 minute per exercise . This is just a guideline and it doesn't matter if you do a little less.

It is important that you listen to your body, in the sense of respecting the amplitudes to which you have access today . Do not try to copy absolutely what you will see me doing in the photos.

I am just an example of what is possible, I am NOT the goal.

This routine is suitable for all flexibility levels as long as you follow these guidelines. You don't need any prior prerequisites or experience with mobility.

There's no need to warm up before doing this routine either. On the contrary, it's even more effective to work out completely cold, for example immediately upon waking, to get an accurate assessment of your lack of flexibility.

Do 20 minutes of sauna before mobility and you'll think you're flexible because your whole body will already be relaxed and loose. That's not what we want!

No equipment is needed. Just a human body.

Finally, if you have some relaxing music, a sunrise in front of the beach, bare feet on the sand or a rug, I wouldn't say no ;).

Let's start with the list of exercises to wake up your body. The order I give you is the order in which you will perform the exercises.

We always start from the center (the spine), towards the extremities (shoulders, hips, ankles, wrists, etc.).

The 3 Mobility Exercises for the Spine

Jefferson Curls: Segmented Forward Spine Bending

One of my favorite exercises and possibly the best back flexibility exercise.

Jefferson Curls are segmented spinal flexions . The goal is to simply roll and unroll the spine one vertebra at a time.

Keep your legs straight , your arms hanging loose, and your chin tucked to your chest throughout the movement.

The goal is not to touch the ground. Simply let your head fall under the force of gravity as if it were very heavy.

On the way down , we roll the cervical, thorax and then the lumbar vertebrae.
When going up , we unroll the lumbar region, the thorax and then the cervical region.

Repeat the entire movement for 1 minute.

Side Bends: Segmented flexions of the spine to the side

Same concept as the previous Jefferson Curls simply by rolling and unrolling the spine to the sides this time.

We have seen that these exercises can be useful in correcting mild adult scoliosis as long as you are careful not to use other joints to compensate for your lack of range of motion.

For Side Bends, a classic mistake is to want to move your hips to the side to go a little lower... NO!

As you can see in the picture, I completely lock my legs to prevent any hip movement.

Alternate between left and right for 1 minute.

Rotations of the entire spine

Rotation is the movement of the spine that we are no longer used to doing, especially if you do not practice sports like boxing, handball, golf, baseball, etc.

Place your feet slightly wider than shoulder-width apart. Lower your center of gravity . Shift your weight onto one leg and pivot on the other foot as if you were putting out a cigarette.

Be careful of losing your balance, which happens very quickly. In this case, slow down your movement or try to turn less far.

Alternate between left and right rotations without pausing in between, for 1 minute.

The 3 Mobility Exercises for the Shoulders

Large Scapular Circles with arms alongside the body

The scapular area corresponds to your upper back. It involves manipulating your shoulder blades.

We will make large circles in one direction then in the other while keeping our arms alongside our bodies.

CAUTION , as with all mobility exercises, it is important not to use adjacent joints to compensate for our lack of mobility.

Try not to arch or hunch your back. The trick is simply to tighten your glutes and abs to lock your core and activate only your shoulder blades.

Repeat circles in one direction then the other for 1 minute.

Large Scapular Circles with arms forward

Same instructions as for the previous exercise, simply with your arms stretched out in front of you.

You will see that this adds a little difficulty (especially in one of the two directions of rotation) and therefore allows us to activate our nervous system even more to manipulate this area precisely.

Repeat circles in one direction then the other for 1 minute.

Internal and External Shoulder Rotations

Internal and external rotations of the shoulders are probably the two movements that cause the most shoulder injuries . Particularly internal rotations.

As with shoulder circles, we're going to focus on not using our spine in this movement. So, remember to squeeze your glutes and contract your abs very strongly to maintain a neutral spine position .

Be careful with your ego for this exercise. I know how frustrating it can be when your shoulders don't move through their full range of motion, but don't rush into it.

Joint mobility is a game of patience , small daily efforts, over the very, very long term.

With your elbows at shoulder height and bent at a 90-degree angle, you'll actively control the internal and external rotation of your shoulders. No sudden momentum or movements; remember the instructions from the beginning.

Try to keep your elbows and shoulders aligned . You can use a mirror or film yourself to see if your elbow is going down or up. We don't want that!

Quietly repeat your internal and external rotations, with a short break of a few seconds at the bottom of the internal rotation if you want to try to scratch a little more amplitude, for 1 minute.

The 3 Mobility Exercises for the Hips

Knee to Chest Raise

Still maintaining the neutral position of your spine, you will try to touch your chest with your knee then change legs.

Careful, I'm not kicking. I'm SLOWLY raising my knee until I can't do it anymore without using my back.

This height is therefore the maximum amplitude of my hip flexion today.

You can even take a photo to give yourself a visual cue and compare this photo with a photo taken 1 or 2 months later, with your daily routine.

You will alternate between raising your left knee to your chest, then raising your right knee for 1 minute.

Knee Raises Behind the Shoulder

Same instructions as for the previous exercise except that this time, we raise the knee behind the shoulder on the same side...

Yes, you read that sentence correctly ^^

You understand, it will take time to be able to put the knee behind the shoulder depending on your starting point, but it is not an end in itself.

The goal is simply to target this area to improve your hip range of motion, flexibility, and adductor strength.

You will alternate between raising your left knee behind your left shoulder, then raising your right knee behind your right shoulder for 1 minute.

Standing Controlled Joint Rotations

One of my favorite hip mobility exercises, inspired by the Kinstretch system: a joint mobility system that uses something called Controlled Joint Rotations.

This is an exercise that will also make you work on your balance 🙂

The movement is divided into 3 parts:

1. I raise my knee as high as possible in control ( hip flexion )
2. I open my hip on the outside ( hip abduction ) while keeping my knee at the same height
3. I turn my hip ( internal hip rotation ) to put the foot behind me, keeping my knee at the same height

It's very difficult at first to maintain balance while performing the movement, so simply place your opposite hand on the wall to assist you.

Then, the classic mistake is to want to execute the 3 parts of the movement all in one fluid movement. No!

The goal here is to really work in a segmented manner to emphasize each of these 3 micromovements of the hip (flexion, abduction and internal rotation).

You will alternate between a full controlled joint rotation of the left leg, then a full controlled joint rotation of the right leg for 1 minute.

The 3 exercises for ankles, knees and toes

Seiza

Sit in the Seiza position, bending your legs under your thighs, with your buttocks on your heels (not between your heels) to put pressure on your extended ankles.

The Seiza position is a traditional sitting position in Japan and is a classic position in martial arts. Seiza, in Japanese,正座, means “correct sitting”.

I personally believe that this position is essential for the human body, almost as much as the Deep Squat . These are two leg compression positions that are sorely lacking in our Western world.

You can add a little more pressure on the ankles by gently rocking your upper body backward and then back to center.

You will sit in Seiza for 1 minute if you can or in 10-second increments followed by 10-second breaks for the total duration of 1 minute.

Seiza on the toes in 90° flexion

Same instructions as before, only this time sit with your toes bent.

Be careful, this may cause pain if you are not used to this position at all or if you have no practice such as martial arts in your training week.

You will sit in Seiza for 1 minute if you can or in 5-10 second increments followed by 10 second breaks for the total duration of 1 minute.

Knee Raises from the Seiza Position

As before, this exercise will depend on your comfort with the Seiza position.

If you don't have access to Seiza yet, you can simply skip these 3 exercises and prefer a simple alternative like raising and lowering your heels from a standing position as if you had heels on your feet.

Otherwise, with your fingertips on the floor on either side of your shins, lift both knees off the floor at the same time, resting on your toes and ankles in extension.

The closer the fingers are to the feet, the more difficult the exercise will be. The closer the fingers are to the knees , the easier the exercise will be.

The goal is NOT to raise your knees as high as possible and not be able to control the descent. On the contrary!

The goal is to go to a lower height but be able to slow down the downward movement to increase time under tension.

You will do knee raises for 1 minute if you can or simply aim for 8 to 12 repetitions.

The 3 Mobility Exercises for the Wrists

Palm bends

Turn your hands outwards (towards the little finger), place your fingers glued to your knees at first , then gradually move your shoulders back without lifting your palms off the ground.

Return to the starting position then repeat these light, controlled movements backward to work on wrist flexion.

Repeat these wrist flexions on the palms of the hands for 1 minute.

Backhand bends

Follow the same instructions as for the previous exercise except that this time, place the back of your hand on the ground.

My advice is to get into the position by following 3 steps . If you can't get your body into the position for the next step, you need to stop where you are and work in that position.

1. Be able to fully extend your arms . If not, repeat the movement to straighten your elbows for 1 minute.
2. Be able to turn your elbows inward . If not, repeat the movement to turn your elbows for 1 minute.
3. If we are able to stretch our arms and turn our elbows inwards, only then are we allowed to make these very gentle little jerks backwards as I show you in the picture.

Repeat these wrist flexions on the back of the hand very gently for 1 minute.

Dynamic wrist rotations

A classic: interlaced fingers, draw large circles in all directions with your wrists.

Repeat these large circles dynamically for 1 minute.

That concludes our routine with the 15 best full-body mobility exercises.

I've been teaching movement and mobility around the world for over 5 years, so I've had time to collect many questions from my students.

Here are some common questions that will help you gain flexibility quickly and safely through mobility work.

Become More Flexible Fast with This Joint Mobility Routine (Frequently Asked Questions)

How many times a week should I do this routine?

Every day without exception! What matters with joint mobility is not the intensity but the volume of training.

We want to train a little every day so that our nervous system adapts to this stimulus and allows the body to gradually open up and give us a greater range of motion.

I told you, it's a game of patience and rigor.

When will I see results?

It's impossible to give you an answer because it depends on your starting point.

If you're 60 and haven't moved your body in 40 years, it's going to take you much longer than someone who's 30 and has only had a sedentary life for 10 years.

It also depends on your injury history. Some people have had major accidents or surgeries that will slow down the healing process.

The best way to approach this is to simply take a photo or video of yourself doing the routine once a month on the same date and then compare the results to keep your motivation intact.

What time of day is best to do this routine?

In the morning, when you wake up, because that's when your body is stiffest.

You've just been lying still for 8 hours, so if there's ever a time when mobility is going to be most accurate in terms of assessing your actual range of motion and unlocking your body, it's at that moment.

It's also a time to give yourself some time, to reconnect with your body and start the day by doing yourself some good before approaching the outside world.

It's like meditation in motion.

How can you easily integrate this routine into your daily life to ensure you maintain your discipline?

To create a new, lasting positive habit in your life, it has been proven that the most effective way is to integrate the new habit into existing habits.

This makes it easier to add a new action if it fits into an existing, ingrained routine.

For example, if you already do: wake up, shower, brush teeth, get dressed, eat breakfast.

For example, you can add mobility between waking up and showering, or between brushing teeth and getting dressed.

What to do if you miss a workout? How to get back into the swing of things?

Don't beat yourself up. Do you forgive yourself quickly and start again the next morning without fail?

I've been using a pretty simple rule to keep my discipline all these years: Never miss 2 days in a row.

It's always much harder to get back into something if it's been two days since you last did it. This goes for joint mobility too.

Can I do this routine multiple times in one day? For example, in the morning and evening, or before or after workouts?

This is not necessary and does not speed up results in any way .

If you do sports, always do mobility BEFORE the sport . At the end of a session, it's useless.

Finally, for those who like to do sports, yoga, or stretching in the evening, I repeat, it is much more effective in the morning when the body is cold.

Will it work if I don't train as often?

No. Rigor and training volume are the KEY to effective mobility training.

So much for the most common questions.

If you have any questions , please feel free to ask them in the comments below the article.

Thank you for your attention my move.

Nomad Slim
Founder of MOUVERS